Chapter 56: Darling, you’ve gotten a little naughty, haven’t you?
As Eiros finally embraced death once more, unlike usual, this time he embraced it with a satisfaction so overwhelming that a smile remained on his face right up to his very last moment.
Even once he’d finally returned to being nothing more than a soul without a body, he couldn’t wipe the smile off his face.
[Host Ha—]
"Bring me back now."
[Beginn—]
"Hurry."
He was curious.
What kind of reaction had Erness had, in that moment?
That thought made him rush back from death. He immediately felt every part of his heavy body, the roar of the rushing river, waves slamming into him, and the cold spreading through him.
In his arms, Erness was still there, it turned out. They’d been swept along by the current together for a few more seconds.
Erness seemed strangely quiet and frozen for some reason, but the moment Eiros managed to grab onto a rock to steady them against the current, he immediately felt Erness staring at him with a dark expression.
"...Darling, you’ve gotten a little naughty, haven’t you?"
".....?"
Eiros blinked.
Erness in front of him looked genuinely grim, her dark stare piercing enough that Eiros froze stiff without even realizing it.
’...Is she actually mad?’
Well, Eiros had never once imagined there’d come a day when Erness would actually get angry. I mean, how could he, when she always used that beautiful, flawless face of hers purely to smile and laugh, never once showing any hint of anger even when Eiros avoided her or did things that were genuinely bad?
But this time...?
He watched Erness slowly get to her feet. The river was full of rocks, and it wasn’t too deep either, so Erness could stand up easily enough.
Her expression was sulky, a flush of irritation coloring her cheeks.
Her soaked academy uniform left her drenched from head to toe. Droplets of water dripped down her face, and her hair was a complete mess.
That made Eiros realize... Erness probably hated something like this, since it would ruin her appearance.
Right then, Eiros had no idea what to do. He just stood up, looking at Erness nervously, growing even more anxious and stiff as she stared back at him.
In silence, Erness let out a sorrowful sigh, then her body quietly vanished, disappearing without a trace.
"H-huh?"
Eiros froze.
’W-wait... What just happened.....?’
He couldn’t make sense of it.
I mean, the Erness he knew had never once acted like that toward him, and this new development somehow left Eiros feeling deeply unsettled.
Had Erness just gotten genuinely upset with him?
Had she just left because she was angry?
Would she avoid him from now on?
Eiros didn’t know, but he genuinely felt uneasy about all of it. The smile on his face went stiff as he scratched the back of his head, letting out a long sigh.
"Whatever... since it’s her, she probably won’t stay mad for too long, right?"
He blinked.
"Yeah. That’s got to be it."
With a slow nod, Eiros glanced around him. Since things had turned out this way, he figured he should make use of whatever time remained to try and hunt down some prey.
Even though his Soul Essence was genuinely running thin after that fight with Erness, he should still be able to handle the students from the Others class without much trouble.
So, he walked on, that uneasy feeling still sitting heavy in his chest.
***
In the history of this academy, this was probably the first time the beginning-of-semester exam had turned into something this entertaining and fun to watch. It made painfully clear just how different this year’s generation was, earning them the title of the golden generation.
Once the beginning-of-semester exam wrapped up, the students were now told to gather at the field near the forest on the right side of the academy.
Supervisors and a few professors stepped in to lend a hand. As time passed, the first-year students began gathering together, their appearances a complete mess.
Some were covered in wounds, some were caked in mud, and some were completely soaked. All of them had spent six full hours in that thoroughly chaotic survival arena.
Their endurance up to this point deserved genuine credit.
Right then, Eiros had just arrived at the field. He spotted Valkas together with Alen, though he had no idea what had happened between the two of them.
"No! I’m not accepting this! That was pure coincidence because my soul essence was almost gone! If you’re really a man, let’s fight again!"
Basically, Valkas was in a full-blown rage, snarling at Alen. His body was being held back with great difficulty by Godon.
And Alen...?
The guy just crossed his arms, smiling with his eyes closed, acting like some wise old sage.
"A loss is a loss, a win is a win. If this were an actual battlefield, you’d already be dead, so accept your defeat and my mercy."
Yeah, Eiros had no idea how or why, but Alen apparently wasn’t just some ordinary protagonist—he had a genuine talent for rage bait.
Because the result was truly awful, with Valkas starting to scream, consumed entirely by fury and hatred.
"Don’t hold me back, GODON! LET GO! I’m— I’m gonna kill that bastard right here, right now!!!"
Across from them, there were the Imperial twins.
"Rein... are you okay?"
"Don’t worry, I’m fine."
"...Guess I hit you a little too hard."
And then there was Lovia herself, letting out sigh after sigh—Eiros lost count of how many times the girl sighed while covering her ears, her face flushed red with embarrassment.
Yeah, they were basically drawing everyone’s attention, until...
"Oh, there he is! Damn it, that bastard said I was a femboy!"
"Huh?! That’s better than what he said to me! He called me gay!"
"Don’t compare misfortunes, damn it! You know what?! He said my junk was tiny!"
’Ah.’
Eiros’s smile froze in place. Facing that wall of public rage, he just cleared his throat, took a step, and—
’Just pretend I don’t know anything.’
Ignore them. Yeah, ignore them.
There were professors and supervisors around, so nothing too crazy would happen here. That’s when the others finally noticed Eiros standing there.
The moment Eiros’s gaze met Valkas’s, the two of them went quiet instantly. Eiros stayed silent, wearing a calm smile, while Valkas looked a little pale, listlessly held back to keep from crumpling to the ground, averting his eyes.
"...Aw, Valkas, I’m honestly shocked and really hurt, you know?"
Valkas’s body trembled hearing that, his mouth clamping shut. Meanwhile, Eiros shook his head.
"But it’s fine. I guess it’s understandable, I mean, I’ll let it slide this once. Besides, you’ve helped me out a lot already."
I mean, well, Valkas probably had no idea and figured he’d already won. So why should Eiros bother getting all sensitive about it?
That’s when the tension drained from Valkas’s face as he looked at Eiros hesitantly.
"S-seriously...?"
Eiros nodded.
Right then, Valkas suddenly burst into sobs. Yeah! The bastard was clearly acting, faking tears and pretending to be sad.
"I won’t do it again hic... I swear, for the sake of our friendship hic..."
He clenched his fist tight, raising it up into the air. Eiros couldn’t hold himself together, his lips genuinely twitching, and he cleared his throat to calm himself down, shifting his attention elsewhere.
His expression darkened.
"...Where’s Erness?"
He tried to stay calm, but in the end, his voice carried a strange, faint tremor that every single one of them picked up on.
Valkas stopped faking his crying.
Alen’s eyes snapped open.
Godon turned to look too.
Lovia’s ears perked right up.
Feeling all of their gazes land on him at once, Eiros froze in place.
No, this wasn’t what he wanted at all. Ah, alright, fine, he did feel a little strange about it too. But...
***